I’ve prepared a new house profile for another little known late twentieth century organic style house, this time in Aranda. The Andrews House was the first designed in Canberra by Laurie Virr in 1969 and is based on a triangular module.

The image here shows the kitchen module of the house, a sticking point during the approval process. When building approval was first sought, a permit was denied by the Department of the Interior on the grounds that the design ‘did not look like a house’. The Department’s resident architect was particularly troubled by the location of the kitchen: an internal module with no windows, but lit from above by a skylight. Kitchens must have external windows, it’s written in the tablets. Country Women’s Association guidelines, on which Departmental policy was based, stipulated that kitchens must have external windows to allow wives to have a pleasant outlook while preparing meals and washing the dishes. Depending on one’s outlook, that’s either quaint, hilarious or infuriating. Nonetheless, approval was ultimately given and the house went ahead as per plan.

The conservatism of the Department of the Interior during the 1960s made life very difficult for architects trying to do something a bit different, or that didn’t match the narrow template laid down by government. It forced some of them out of Canberra and curtailed the careers of others.

The Andrews House is in original condition and still occupied by the client 40 years after construction. The house is next door to Enrico Taglietti’s Paterson House, arguably his most important residential work. An interesting side note: the commission for 7 Juad Place was originally offered to Laurie Virr, but the Patersons changed their mind and went with Enrico Taglietti. The end result is two fine, original mid-century organic houses next to each other in a bushland setting.

Read the profile.

The house at 5 Juad Place, Aranda was designed by Laurie Virr in 1969. It is an unusual Canberra example of the late twentieth century organic style of architecture based on a triangular module. The house was Laurie’s first commission in Canberra and displays the themes he would explore in his residential projects over the next three decades: the use of massing, geometric forms and deep roof overhangs in an energy efficient, solar house.

Description

This house was the first significant commission offered to Laurie Virr in the two-and-a-half years after his graduation, although he had designed and built houses during the eighteen months he lived in the U.S.A. during 1963-64. Laurie’s practice, as with most other architects, started with some small local commissions for alterations and additions. The clients for the house at 5 Juad Place were the Andrews family.

The site is a 1774 square metre lot, on the side of a hill sloping to the west. One of the requirements of the brief was that all trees on the block were to be preserved. Prior to construction there were seventy-three trees on the property, and although it was necessary to remove one before construction commenced, the retention of these native trees has contributed to the strong native bush quality of the site.

The desire on the part of the clients to preserve the trees dictated the form of the house, the triangular module furnishing more flexibility than was possible with a rectangular grid. The brief for the house called for a living/dining area, a kitchen, two bathrooms (one associated with the main bedroom), two additional bedrooms, a laundry/utility space, and a room for Mr Andrews’ mother, with basic kitchen and dining facilities together with sleeping and closet space.

The living and dining area of 5 Juad Place, showing the custom made furniture.

Construction is of custom made concrete masonry units, with western red cedar French doors and sash, and pine ceilings. The floor is an integrally colored and reinforced concrete slab, which is waxed and polished, and scored on the lines of the module with a grooving tool. The roof is covered with fiber-cement shingles. All glazing is 6 mm float glass.

When first submitted for building approval a permit was denied by the resident architect of the Department of the Interior on the grounds that the design ‘did not look like a house’. Of particular concern was the internally located kitchen, lit from above by a skylight but having no external windows. Country Women’s Association guidelines, on which Departmental policy was based, stipulated that kitchens must have external windows to allow wives to have a pleasant outlook while preparing meals and washing the dishes. On appeal, a wiser head prevailed, construction commenced and was completed without further incident.

— Laurie Virr

In 1972, drawings and photographs of the completed house were chosen to form part of the Australian exhibition at the Commonwealth Institute in London, U.K.

Further reading

• Short biography of Laurie Virr
• The late twentieth century organic style of architecture
• Images of the house under construction taken by architecture photographer Peter Wille can be found at the State Library of Victoria.

Back in August I posted about a little known late twentieth century organic style house in Kambah. The house is a fine example of that style of architecture. Along with its massing, use of geometric forms, deep roof overhang for shade and energy efficient design, it is also a successful implementation of a complex geometric plan based on a hemicycle—unusual if not unique for a mid-century Canberra house. Little known locally, perhaps—but not overseas. It has been widely published and visited by students, scholars and architects over the past three decades.

That house was designed and built by the Canberra architect Laurie Virr, who has had a fascinating career in engineering and architecture in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia spanning five decades. In between all of that, he trained with Herb Elliott at Portsea under Percy Cerutty and had a serious tilt at the 1960 Olympic team.

While Laurie has based himself in Canberra and produced important work here, he has largely worked interstate during the past thirty years. He has remained outside the system and gone unrecognised (in this country at least) by the mainstream—that is, the Australian Institute of Architects. Laurie’s idiom has mostly been the single residential dwelling, with an ongoing exploration of solar housing, geometric designs and planning for small spaces. It seems to me that, together with Enrico Taglietti, he has been one of the most original and important practitioners of the late twentieth century organic style of architecture working in Canberra.

I’ve now prepared a short biography of Laurie Virr which gives a brief outline of his career and work. I’m also working on a profile of Laurie’s other important Canberra work—his first house, the Andrews House, in Aranda, which remains as fresh and interesting today as it was when it was built in 1969.

Read the biography of Laurie Virr.

Laurie Virr is a Canberra-based architect who has designed work in the United States, New South Wales and Victoria, along with a number of houses in Canberra. Throughout a career spanning over fifty years, his primary concerns have been the design of energy efficient, solar houses on rural sites and efficient planning for small spaces. Together with Enrico Taglietti, he has been one of the most original and important practitioners of the late twentieth century organic style of architecture working in Canberra.

Early years

Laurie Virr has qualifications in both architecture and engineering. From 1950 to 1958 he gained formal qualifications in civil engineering in England and was employed on large scale projects including bridges, water storage reservoirs, major storm water drainage works, high rise buildings and turbine installations. In Canberra, he played a role in the development of engineering infrastructure for the Russell Hill Defence complex.

From 1962 to 1966 Laurie Virr studied Architecture, graduating from the University of Melbourne with Honors in Design. This time included a period (1963-64) in the studio of American architect Malcolm Wells, in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. It was during this period that he designed and supervised the construction of his first passive solar house, and began to experiment with the idea of earth sheltered buildings. Examples of his work formed part of the Australian exhibits at The Commonwealth Institute, London, U.K. in 1972, and the Paris Biennale in 1982.

Laurie Virr in his studio.

Work in Canberra

In January 1967 he established his own practice in Canberra, where he has remained since. His practice has been based on commissions for custom residences, with occasional forays into the design of workshops for light industrial processes. The majority of the residences have been at rural sites, and all of them have been either solar houses in cool temperate climates, or of low mass, as is required in tropical locations. Spasmodically, he has also been involved in the planning and design of a scheme for the establishment of solar precincts in areas of cities and towns subject to urban renewal. This work has attracted the attention of local authorities in New South Wales, and of a private developer in Massachusetts, U.S.A.

Laurie Virr’s first house in Canberra was built in the new bush suburb of Aranda in 1969 for Mr and Mrs Andrews. It demonstrates the themes he would explore in his residential projects over the next three decades: the use of massing, geometric forms and deep roof overhangs in an energy efficient, solar house.

The house, at Kambah, ACT, in which he lives, and which was constructed substantially with his own hands, has been widely published. It has achieved a minimum night temperature in winter of 12° Celsius without artificial heating, when the minimum temperature outdoors was -9° Celsius.

The house is an outstanding example of the late twentieth century organic style with its massing, use of geometric forms, deep roof overhang and energy efficient design. The successful implementation of a complex geometric plan based on a hemicycle is unusual if not unique for a mid-century Canberra house. The house has been published many times, in the United States, Europe and Australia. Inexplicably, it is relatively unknown in Canberra.

Teaching

Throughout his career Laurie Virr has been invited to conduct classes in Architectural Design and the Theory of Architecture, at a number of universities. Recently he was nominated for the Bruce Goff Chair of Creative Architecture at the University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma. He has been a guest lecturer at universities in Australia, including the University of Canberra, and the United States of America. These latter include the:

• Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture, Spring Green, Wisconsin
• College of Architecture, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma
• University of Washington, Spokane
• University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
• University of Idaho, Moscow

Houses profiled on this site

• 5 Juad Place, Aranda (1969)
• ‘Rivendell’, 17 Meredith Circuit, Kambah (1975)

Other works in Canberra

• 14 Fergusson Crescent, Deakin (1982)

Other works

• House at Barragga Bay, New South Wales (1973)
• House at Valla Beach, New South Wales (1998)

Source

• Conversations with and information provided by Laurie Virr
• M. Parnell and G. Cole Australian Solar Houses (1983)
]]> http://www.canberrahouse.com/2009/02/02/laurie-virr/feed/ 0 http://www.canberrahouse.com/2008/08/26/a-new-house-profile17-meredith-circuit-kambah/ http://www.canberrahouse.com/2008/08/26/a-new-house-profile17-meredith-circuit-kambah/#comments Tue, 26 Aug 2008 01:00:26 +0000 martin http://www.canberrahouse.com/?p=156 I’ve developed a new profile for the house designed (and substantially built) by architect Laurie Virr at 17 Meredith Circuit, Kambah. The house is an energy efficient, complex geometric design from the mid 1970s and an outstanding example of the late twentieth century organic style …]]>



I’ve developed a new profile for the house designed (and substantially built) by architect Laurie Virr at 17 Meredith Circuit, Kambah. The house is an energy efficient, complex geometric design from the mid 1970s and an outstanding example of the late twentieth century organic style of architecture.

While the house has been published in the United States and Europe, it is virtually unknown in Canberra. It is not listed on the Register of Significant Twentieth Century Architecture or the ACT Heritage Register. For whatever reason, it appears to have fallen outside the ‘official’ systems of architecture awards and heritage processes. It is probably not the only one.

The house is based on the idea of a hemicycle and a grid system, where the units have been shifted at 30 and 60 degrees. The arcuated form is anchored at either end by polygonal terminals, with a hexagonal central tower forming a mezzanine bedroom over the main living space. Such geometric designs from the mid-twentieth century are rare in Canberra—the only other sophisticated example being the house at 10 Gawler Crescent, Deakin, designed by Alex Jelinek in 1956.

The house is also an outstanding example of efficient small planning and solar design. It is a modest 123.32 square metres and is perfectly attuned to its environment, requiring little or no heating and cooling. In an age where so-called ‘sustainable architecture’ can mean 300 square metre dwellings aggressively dominating the streetscape, this house provides a somewhat humbling contrast.

Anyway, this fascinating house deserves to be more widely appreciated, certainly in its home town. I hope you enjoy reading the house profile.

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